Amateur career

Khan began to box competitively at the age of 11, with early honours including three English school titles, three junior ABA titles, and gold at the 2003 Junior Olympics.[10] In early 2004 he won a gold medal at the European Student Championships in Lithuania, and in South Korea several months later he won world junior lightweight title after fighting five times in seven days. One of his notable early amateur fights was against Victor Ortíz, whom he defeated in a second round stoppage. Overall, he compiled an amateur record of 101-9.

Professional career

Lightweight

On 2 February 2008, Khan was scheduled to fight Martin Kristjansen, but illness forced the Dane to withdraw and instead Khan beat Australian Gary St Clair in a contest for the Commonwealth lightweight title at the ExCel Arena in London. This was his first fight to last all 12 rounds and was won via a unanimous 120–108 scoring from all three ringside judges.

On 5 April 2008, Khan beat Kristjansen in the seventh round of a WBO lightweight Title Eliminator. Before the contest, the fighters had been ranked third and fourth respectively by the WBO. After Khan's victory, he was ranked second, behind only Joel Casamayor.

Following the fight, Khan split from his trainer Oliver Harrison, the trainer for all of his previous 17 professional contests. The break-up was blamed on Harrison's concerns that Khan's public engagements were interfering with his fight preparations.[11] Khan's spokesman told reporters there was "nothing personal" between Khan and Harrison.[12] Dean Powell, who has trained former world champions Duke McKenzie and Lloyd Honeyghan, worked with Khan until a decision on a permanent trainer was made. In the same month, Khan had a training session in Las Vegas with Roger Mayweather, trainer and uncle of Floyd Mayweather, Jr.[11]

Khan fought on 21 June 2008, at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham against Irishman Michael Gomez. Gomez, a super featherweight champion who was reaching the end of his career and had lost the last one of his six fights, was described as a "backward step" in Khan's quest for a world title.[13] Khan stated "I think I'm above this level now" and made it clear that he expected a fast and explosive finish to the fight knocking down Gomez two times in the fight and a great finish. However, after the fight, Khan said he felt he had moved up a level by "fighting a good fighters like Gomez".[14] Khan received criticism for being knocked down in the second round, but proved his resilience by coming back stronger after this. Former boxing champion Barry McGuigan seemed unimpressed after the fight and said Khan needed at least two more fights before he should consider a world title bout. Many journalists[who?] echoed McGuigan's opinion of Khan's needs to work on his defence.

A month after the Gomez fight, it was announced that Jorge Rubio would become Khan's new trainer. Rubio was chosen because Khan thought that he had very good chemistry with the Cuban trainer. Khan said, "Rubio was showing me all these new training techniques, and I felt so comfortable because it suited my style. I knew I had the hand speed and the footwork to do it and I knew it was going to make me a much better fighter". Many boxing experts thought that Rubio needed to concentrate on improving Khan's defence, especially in keeping a high guard, and Khan's father agreed that he was showing great defensive skills during his training.

In early August, the lightweight Breidis Prescott was chosen by Rubio as Khan's next opponent. Rubio had trained a fighter who had narrowly lost to Prescott before and thought that Khan would be able to handle the bigger Prescott, who had a prolific knock-out record of 17 KOs in 19 contests. On 6 September 2008, Khan was a huge favourite and was hoping to win a world title by the end of the year. Prescott came out fast in the fight and landed some good shots; a stiff jab jerked Khan's head back and foreshadowed what was to come. Prescott landed a left hook that jabbed Khan's temple; dizzying his senses. Instead of holding, Khan tried to punch back, but instead was punched on the head by a left hook, right hook combo, sending him crashing to the canvas. He managed to get to his feet, but was wobbling like bambi on ice. Prescott ended it for good with another left that put Khan down again. This time, he was unable to get up. It was officially over in 55 seconds.The fight was at the Manchester Evening News Arena on Khan's Sky Box Office debut.[15]

Following his defeat to Prescott, Frank Warren sacked Khan's trainer Jorge Rubio and replaced him with Freddie Roach. Khan began training with Roach in the United States, where he sparred with then WBC lightweight champion and pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao, who is also being trained by Roach. On 6 December 2008, Khan recorded a comeback win against Oisin Fagan in a second-round stoppage. With victory, Khan won the vacant WBA International lightweight title. Khan knocked Fagan down twice in the first round and Fagan's corner threw in the towel in the second, after being knocked down again.

Khan vs. Barrera

In early 2009, it was announced that Khan would fight former seven-time and three-weight world champion Marco Antonio Barrera on 14 March, at the Manchester Evening News Arena.[16]Frank Warren promoted Khan's fight against the veteran Barrera, perhaps Khan's highest-profile opponent to date. Barrera was ranked No. 1 and Khan No. 5 in the WBO world lightweight rankings. Previous IBF and WBO lightweight title holder Nate Campbell was stripped of the belts after moving up to the light welterweight division and Khan's promoter Frank Warren and Barrera's promoter Don King lobbied the WBO to elevate the Khan-Barrera fight to a world lightweight title eliminator.[17] However, the world-title status was instead given to the fight between Juan Manuel Márquez and Juan Diaz, ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively by the WBO.[18]

On 14 March 2009, at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England, Khan defeated Barrera, by a technical decision. The fight was stopped towards the end of the fifth round due to Barrera suffering a cut in the first round, which resulted from a clash of heads. With Barrera deemed in no position to fight on by the ringside doctor, the fight then went to the scorecards where Khan was ahead on all three (50–44, 50–45, 50–45). With victory, Khan defended his WBA International lightweight title and also won the vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title.

Frank Warren was sufficiently impressed with Khan's performance that he vowed to land a world title fight for him before the end of the year.

There was a lot on his shoulders, but I always felt he could rise to the big occasion. I'd like to see him get a belt round his waist by the end of this year.[19]

Khan also commented on the fight, saying:

I felt so completely easy, catching him with jabs. I felt like I was on a better level than him. The jabbing and patience – I felt so strong. You could see the difference. I had to take some shots in that match. I made some mistakes in the past and I'm not going to make them again.[19]

Light Welterweight

Khan vs. Kotelnik, Salita

On 18 July 2009, Khan moved up to the light welterweight division to fight Andreas Kotelnik at the MEN Arena in Manchester for the WBA light welterweight title. Khan won by a unanimous decision, 120–108, 118–111, 118–111, and became the third-youngest Brit to win a world title, at the age of 22.[20]

On 6 October 2009, Frank Warren confirmed that Khan would defend his WBA light welterweight title against undefeated Ukrainian American boxer Dmitry Salita, the mandatory challenger, on 5 December, at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.[21] Due to Khan being a practising Muslim and Salita being an Orthodox Jew, the fight was hyped as a religious clash by the media, referring to it as a "battle of faiths" or "holy war", though Khan and Salita have both denied such claims.[22][23] On 5 December 2009, Khan defeated mandatory challenger Salita in 76 seconds, winning by TKO in the first round. Salita was knocked down three times, the first time after just 10 seconds into the fight.[24] It was the first ever loss of Salita's career.[25]

Khan vs. Malignaggi, Maidana

On 9 March 2010, Golden Boy Promotions confirmed that WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and former light welterweight world champion Paulie Malignaggi would hold a press conference in London to announce their world title bout set for 15 May at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. This was Khan's first bout in the United States of America. The fight was for the WBA light welterweight title, which Khan won in the 11th round.[27] "He (Khan) is stronger, bigger and faster. He was very busy, I couldn't keep up with him" stated Malignaggi in his post-fight interview. Immediately after the fight, Khan stated he wanted to fight Marcos Maidana next, and that he would not be leaving the light welterweight division until he had unified the various belts, suggesting that the way to do this would be for him to fight Maidana, and then go on to face the winner of a Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley match.[28]

Khan successfully defended his title for the third time against WBA interim champion and mandatory challenger, Marcos Maidana who held a record of 29 wins, 27 knockouts and only 1 loss. Amir Khan was heavily criticized for having a glass chin, as he was stunned mid-way through the 10th round by a heavy right hand. Nevertheless, Khan over came heavy punishment and walked away with a unanimous decision.

Khan vs. McCloskey, Judah

Khan took on Paul McCloskey in his next fight. The 31-year-old Northern Irishman was unbeaten in 22 fights and was ranked world number 10. Khan said: "I am delighted that this fight has finally been put together following some tough negotiations. This is a matchup the British public want to see and will be a fantastic fight between two of the best light-welterweights in the country." [29]

Khan won a sixth-round technical decision after Paul McCloskey was cut by an unintentional head-butt and could not go on in the estimation of the ring doctor.[30] The heads of Khan and McCloskey collided about two minutes into the sixth round, causing a bad cut on the inside of the Irishman’s left eyebrow. Another tactical few rounds followed, with Khan the main aggressor. In the decisive sixth, a five-punch combination from Khan staggered McCloskey and moments later the pair went toe-to-toe before McCloskey wheeled away and noticed blood coming from around his left eye.[31]

Khan had some trouble with the awkward and resilient southpaw, who was difficult to hit cleanly, but he was both too quick and too busy for McCloskey, winning all six rounds on all three cards.[32]

After a war of words with Judah on Twitter, Amir Khan agreed on 31 May 2011 to fight Zab Judah in attempt to unify the IBF and WBA Light Welterweight titles in Las Vegas on 23 July.[33][34] Amir Khan started the fight with a left jab. Round 1 saw a busy Amir Khan as he fought from the outside and kept Judah away with jabs and straights. All four rounds were taken by Khan. Ultimately on the fifth round Zab was taken down with a right uppercut to the body, in which at first commentators believed it was a low blow, since Judah was showing signs of agonising pain, but when it was seen from a different camera angle, it was right on the belt, leading to an 18th knockout for Amir Khan in his career so far.[35]

Khan vs. Peterson, Garcia

Lamont Peterson defeated Khan for the WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles in Washington DC on 10 December 2011 by split decision.

Khan was deducted 2 points in rounds 7 and 12 by the referee Joe Cooper for pushing. Peterson and Khan both boxed well and two judges scored it 113–112 to Peterson, with the other 115–110 to Khan (originally announced as 114–111 to Khan). It was later found that, Peterson had tested positive for peds was stripped of the IBF title. Lamont Pederson admitted to the use of steroids shortly after.

His next fight was on 14 July 2012, in Las Vegas, against the undefeated Puerto Rican-American Danny Garcia for the WBC Championship.[36] At the pre-fight press conference on 4 June, Khan and Garcia's fathers got into a heated exchange resulting in both fighters promising to knock the other out on 14 July. Khan also stated his desire to move up to the 147 lbs division if successful against Garcia, for potential bouts with high-profile boxers like Floyd Mayweather and Timothy Bradley, although Bradley has previously rejected a fight with Khan in order for a fight against Manny Pacquiao.[37]

Khan entered the Garcia fight as a heavy favorite and through the first two rounds and most of the third he seemed to be on his way to a decisive victory as Garcia was not offering much of a defense. However, the tide turned against Khan very late in the third round as Garcia was able to land a hard counterpunch off a missed right. Khan hit the canvas and after appearing to be on his way to an easy round victory suddenly had to fight to stay alive as Garcia's punch had left him wobbly. Only the bell saved Khan from a second knockdown, but Garcia kept pressing early in round four and Khan was forced to take a second standing eight count after he touched the canvas with his glove. Khan regrouped and was temporarily able to go back at Garcia, but with less than a minute left in the round Khan was dropped a third time. Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight despite Khan assuring him he could continue, deciding enough was enough.[38]

Welterweight

Khan vs. Diaz

Following his victory over Molina, Khan returned to the UK, for a fight against Julio Díaz on 27 April 2013 in a 143 lbs 'catch-weight' bout. Khan was able to control some of the fight and managed to survive a fourth-round knockdown from Diaz. Khan managed to hold on throughout the fight to go onto win the fight by a very close unanimous decision. The scorecards; Phil Edwards 114–113 – Steve Gray 115–113 – Terry O'Connor 115–112.

On 29 January 2012, Khan became engaged to Pakistani-American student, Faryal Makhdoom of Staten Island, NY. A thousand friends and family were in attendance, including boxer Ricky Hatton.[45] The couple finally married on 31 May 2013 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The couple then flew back to Khan's hometown of Bolton where a second celebration, a traditional Walima, took place in Manchester which included 4,000 guests.[46][47] Their first child, a daughter named Lamaisah, was born in May 23, 2014 at 4:10am [48]

Charitable and community work

Khan has past and present involvements in supporting charitable and community causes. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, he was among those who raised £1 million for its victims,[49] and in the following year he visited Pakistan to dispense food in a camp set up after the Kashmir earthquake.[50] He has also been involved with a campaign that promotes child safety around British railways[51] one that seeks improvements to the criminal justice system,[52] and another that encourages men to play a role in ending violence against women.[53]

Additionally, Khan is involved in various philanthropic initiatives,[54] including the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), National Literacy Trust, and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

In December 2013, Khan hosted a fundraising dinner to support Islamic Relief's Philippines Appeal in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, raising £83,400.

Media

Khan was involved in a TV programme for Channel 4, Amir Khan's Angry Young Men, which consisted of three 50-minute episodes. The programme centred around troubled angry men and aimed to use the disciplines of boxing, coupled with faith and family values, to help re-focus their lives and steer them away from trouble in the future. It was screened in August/September 2007.

Motoring offences and incidents

On 23 October 2007, Khan was convicted of careless driving at Bolton Crown Court and given a six-month driving ban and a £1000 fine. The conviction related to an incident that occurred on 2 March 2006 in the centre of Bolton, when Khan's car hit and broke the leg of Geoffrey Hatton, a pedestrian who was using a pelican crossing while Khan was travelling at 47 mph in a 30 mph zone and overtaking in the wrong lane.[56] He was cleared of dangerous driving but charged with the lesser offence of careless driving[57] and the pedestrian received an interim payment of £40,000.[58] Geoffrey Hatton never fully recovered from the incident and died two years afterwards from a gastrointestinal bleed with Khan passing on his sympathies.[59] Khan was also summoned to appear in court in Rochdale on 26 October 2007, accused of travelling in excess of 140 mph on the M62 motorway on 31 December 2006. He failed to appear and the case was adjourned to 2 November 2007, with the District Judge warning that he would issue an arrest warrant if the accused did not appear by then. He was also charged with not producing his driving licence and insurance certificate.[60] On 7 January 2008 Khan was fined £1000 and banned for 42 days for the speeding offence.[61]

On 12 July 2009, Khan was once again involved in a motoring incident, this time a collision with a young cyclist. However, no action was taken against Khan after police concluded that he was not to blame for the incident in Moor Lane following interviews with a number of witnesses.[62]